The Malik Report

The Detroit Red Wings may have made their biggest "statement" of the season when they needed it the most. They may have played the best playoff hockey they have in over a year, defeating the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on a night that the team desperately needed to remain in control of its fate.

But it didn't start out "pretty," at least as far as finishing was concerned.

The AP's Larry Lage may have had to elbow his way to his laptop given the number of scribes in attendance for tonight's game at Joe Louis Arena, but he did so in order to drop a heavy hint that the Wings' long-term future does not involve their current rink:

The Detroit Red Wings will play in a new arena some season in the future. It's not if, but when and yet Chris Ilitch doesn't know or want to say much about it.

"Everybody is working hard and there's positive progress," the president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings told The Associated Press after Thursday's Detroit Economic Club meeting.

What's next in the process?

"It's tough to say," he said. "I'd prefer not to make any predictions and just keep working away and continue to do our due diligence and see what we can put together."

I'm going to raise an eyebrow regarding Lage's note that the $12.8 million in yearly tax subsidies the Wings were awarded by the Downtown Development Authority as it was my understanding that the money came from "general fund" dollars, not tax money that was tabbed for education, but that bone of contention remains an, "It depends on how you read the legislation" wrinkle.

Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story will air on the CBC this Sunday, May 28th at 8 PM EDT, and it will air on the Hallmark Channel on Sunday, May 4th at 9 PM (actor Michael Shanks plays Howe in the movie chronicling Howe's comeback with the Houston Aeros, and his website offers oodes of information regarding and articles about the film, which will go straight to WalMart DVD on April 6th), and the CBC posted a fantastic interview with Howe from 1978 as part of the lead-up to the film's premiere:

Updated 16x at 3:08 PM: The Detroit Red Wings face a stiff challenge in battling against the Los Angeles Kings tonight (7:30 PM EDT, NBCSN on TV and online/TSN2/97.1 FM), and the Wings hit the ice just before 10:30 AM for their morning skate with Todd Bertuzzi in tow:

All signs are pointing to Todd Bertuzzi returning to the #RedWings lineup tonight against the Kings.

Ahead of tonight's "Rivalry Night" game against the Los Angeles Kings (7:30 PM EDT, NBCSN/TSN2/97.1 FM), the Red Wings received help from one team they're battling with for a playoff spot and none from two others.

The 21-17-and-6 Wings still sit in 9th place in the Western Conference with 50 points and 19 regulation-or-OT wins, 1 point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets (51 points, 21-17-and-7, 17 ROWs, 2 games left, at Dallas on Thursday and home vs. Nashville on Sunday).

With three games remaining on Detroit's schedule (tonight against LA, tomorrow against Nashville and Saturday in Dallas), the Wings have almost no chance of catching the St. Louis Blues (56 points, 2 games remaining) thanks to St. Louis' 3-1 win over Colorado, and the Minnesota Wild now sit 3 points ahead of Detroit after pissing off Kings via a 2-1 win on Tuesday evening (Minnesota's got 53 points, a 25-18-and-3 record and 21 ROWs with 2 games remaining)...

This made the rounds on Twitter last night, but it's worth repeating and seeing in its larger form on the Detroit News's Red Wings blog, as intrepid Detroit News sports photographer David Guralnick captured a rather remarkable moment during last night's Red Wings win over Phoenix:

Quoth Guralnick:

I haven’t seen a replay of this moment from the second period last night but after Justin Abdelkader sent Phoenix’ Zbynek Michalek into Detroit’s bench it looks like Mike Babcock is fortunate to have his head still on his shoulders this morning.

Guralnick's on Twitter (he takes requests for Wings players fans want to see in his gallery) and his images from last night's game can be seen here in the News's slate of Wings photo galleries.

Tomorrow's game between the Red Wings and Kings (who are trailing 2-0 vs Minnesota, in St. Paul,as I write this) is an NBC Sports Network exclusive, and they're drumming up the "Rivalry Night" Game through a press release...

NEW YORK – April 23, 2013 — Henrik Zetterberg and the Detroit Red Wings (50 pts.) host Dustin Brown and the Los Angeles Kings (57 pts.) at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Mich., on NBC Sports Network’s Wednesday Night Rivalry at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Kings, who are in fourth place in the Western Conference, have clinched a spot in the playoffs and are fighting to keep their home-ice advantage on the San Jose Sharks (55pts.), who are in fifth place in the conference standings. The Red Wings, currently ninth in the West, have lost six of their last 10 games, and need as many points as possible to keep their playoff hopes and 21-year postseason streak alive. Emmy Award-winning play-by-play commentator Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, analyst Eddie Olczyk and ‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst Pierre McGuire will call the game.

Updated at 9:16 PM: Tough decision if he is healthy, but my heart and mind say play him, could certainly help if the game goes to a shootout.

from Brendan Savage of Mlive,

Bertuzzi, who hasn't played since Feb. 7, will be evaluated after Wednesday morning's pregame skate and could possibly be back in the lineup when the Red Wings host the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings at Joe Louis Arena.

Update: The Macomb Daily's Chuck Pleiness confirms (and I'd play him [George here]--the Wings need all the size they can get against LA, even if he and Jordin Tootoo ride shotgun on Cory Emmerton's wing)...

Updated 8x at 3:16 PM: The Red Wings' 4-0 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes earned praise from both outside and within the Metro Detroit area. ESPN's Scott Burnside weighed in on the Wings win...

Now, one big win does not blot out the issues that have plagued the Wings for most of the season. First, they have been unable to get into a real groove when it's mattered, failing to win back-to-back games in nearly a month. The offense has been spotty at best, and Monday's outpouring of goals was the first time Detroit scored more than three times since March 22. On Monday, the Wings relied heavily on the heroics of netminder Jimmy Howard, who recently signed a six-year contract extension. Howard stopped all 34 Phoenix shots, including 12 in the first when the Coyotes outshot Detroit 12-4 but closed out the period down 2-0.

The Detroit Red Wings at least nudged a little closer to the Columbus Blue Jackets and kicked off a stretch of four crucial games (with three remaining, against LA on Wednesday, Nashville on Thursday and in Dallas on Saturday) on the right foot via a 4-0 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday night, a game in which the Wings' power play, goaltending and positional and/or puck support allowed the Wings to secure their first home victory in SIX, "Coming home from a West Coast swing" tries.

I'm getting a little tired of doing the who-sits-where-with-which-games-remaining math, but NBC Sports' James O'Brien postulated statistical permutations as Monday's game was an NBC affair (be warned, Wednesday's game is NBC Sports Network-only in the U.S.):

About The Malik Report

The Malik Report is a destination for all things Red Wings-related. I offer biased, perhaps unprofessional-at-times and verbose coverage of my favorite team, their prospects and developmental affiliates. I've joined the Kukla's Korner family with five years of blogging under my belt, and I hope you'll find almost everything you need to follow your Red Wings at a place where all opinions are created equal and we're all friends, talking about hockey and the team we love to follow.